50 Insane Declassified Pentagon Secrets You Didn’t Know #2

The Pentagon and Department of Defense (DoD) have been involved in a wide array of highly classified, often unethical, and sometimes absurd projects, ranging from the development of nuclear weapons and unusual propulsion systems to psychological operations and human experimentation.

• The Pentagon's history is intertwined with numerous secret projects, from its construction to nuclear weapons development.

• Many military projects involved highly experimental, often bizarre, or ethically dubious methods of warfare and intelligence gathering.

• Significant deceptions, propaganda efforts, and wasteful spending also mark the declassified history of US defense initiatives.

Declassified Pentagon secrets reveal the US military's involvement in the construction of the Pentagon itself and its subsequent development of unconventional warfare tactics and futuristic defense projects. These include controversial nuclear strategies, biological experiments, and psychological operations, some of which involved questionable ethics or proved to be entirely impractical. The information highlights the depth of ambition and the extent of secrecy surrounding US military and defense initiatives throughout history.

Pentagon's Origins & Construction

• 00:00:05 Lieutenant General Leslie Groves, who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon building in 1941, was later responsible for The Manhattan Project, linking the physical building to the creation of the atomic bomb. The Pentagon was controversially built on 'Hell's Bottom,' a thriving community primarily populated by descendants of freed slaves, displacing over 150 families. Initially, the massive structure was envisioned as a temporary facility for the Department of War, but its extensive construction involving 1,000 architects and 14,000 tradesmen over 16 months ultimately cemented its permanent status.

Unconventional Military Projects

• 00:03:38 The Department of Defense (DoD) explored highly unusual weapon concepts during World War II, including 'Project X-Ray' which proposed strapping incendiary bombs to bats for deployment over Japan, a plan that failed spectacularly during testing. Another ambitious project was 'Project Seal,' an attempt to create an artificial tsunami off the coast of Japan to destroy coastal bases, which was later deemed unfeasible even with nuclear explosions. During the Cold War, the 'Brilliant Pebbles' concept involved non-explosive kinetic missiles in the upper atmosphere to intercept incoming nuclear threats, while 'Project Iceworm' planned to hide up to 600 nuclear missiles under the Greenland Ice Sheet before unstable ice conditions led to its abandonment.

Ethically Questionable Operations

• 00:16:29 Operation Paperclip saw the US military extracting Nazi scientists, including Werner von Braun, to work on America's space program, granting them clean slates despite their past. The Edgewood Arsenal human experiments subjected over 6,700 soldiers to various chemicals, including sarin and LSD, in unethical drug tests. Additionally, 'Project SUNSHINE' involved grave robbing during the 1950s to study the long-term effects of nuclear radiation, taking samples from deceased individuals, including children, without family consent.

Propaganda, Deception, and Waste

• 00:14:01 Operation Full-Up involved a plan to sabotage Soviet fuel supplied to the Cuban Air Force with a biological agent to cause engine malfunctions and create blame on Russia. The DoD also considered 'Operation Dirty Trick' to falsely blame Cuba for Astronaut John Glenn's potential death in space. In a more absurd instance, the Pentagon wasted $28 million on green camouflage uniforms for Afghanistan, a country that is 80% desert, chosen purely due to the Afghan Defense Minister's aesthetic preference.